Stewardship Corner

On the topic of stewardship, one of the most common questions a person might ask is not whether a Christian should give to their church. Everyone knows this.  Of course, Christians should give to their church.

The most common question: “How much should I give?”  But what they really mean is this: “Should Christians give a tithe of their income to their local congregation?”  So, let’s look at why you should or should not tithe.

Following are some reasons often offered for why Christians shouldn’t give a tithe to their church.

Some say you shouldn’t tithe because it isn’t expressly commanded in the New Testament.  Lacking that command, there is no “Thus saith the Lord” and no “should” for giving a tithe to your congregation.

Others say that Christians give to their congregation in ways much broader than money.  They give of their time and their talents, and these, together with treasures (money), add up to more than a tithe.

Still others say they give of their treasures to other things besides their congregation, and they want to support those things alongside their church.

And there are those who think Christians shouldn’t tithe because of fear.  If they tithe, they are afraid their gift will be misused, and they are afraid they won’t have enough to get the things they use, want, or need.

Following are some reasons for why Christians should give a tithe to their church.

Even though the New Testament doesn’t specifically command Christians to give a tithe, the Old Testament people were commanded to tithe and did. On top of this, St. Paul often describes the giving Christians are to do in similar terms as a tithe: a regular and generous proportion of the first fruits of their income (1 Cor 6:1–2; 2 Cor. 8:7–23; 2 Cor. 9:2–7).

But here’s another way to think about it.  What was the point of the tithe in the Old Testament?  Where did it go? The reason for the Old Testament tithe was to support the full ministry of the Levites.  They were not given any land because they had no time to farm; their full-time job was the ministry.

What does it say in the New Testament?  “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should make their living from the Gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14).  This is the verse that Luther put in the Small Catechism’s Table of Duties to cover what Christians owe to the support of the ministry.

It seems clear from both the Old and the New Testaments that the tithe is the goal of Christians in their giving. But what if we’re not there yet?  How should we handle this?  What are we to do?

Let’s answer this by asking a different question about something entirely different.  What would you say to your adult children who only attended church quarterly or once a month?  There, is after all, no passage in the New Testament that requires Christians to go to church weekly.  Hebrews 10:25 is the closest we have, and it states simply for Christians to not neglect gathering together.  Even though there is no passage that commands Christians to gather weekly, that is the implicit expectation throughout the Old and New Testaments. It is the goal.

So, what would you say to that son or daughter?  I’d expect that conversation would be something like this:  “I’m glad you’re still going to church.  It is a wonderful blessing to hear God’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and to receive His gifts in the Word and the Sacraments.  But you can do better, and it will only be a blessing to you.  There is a better way, and I’d really like you to try to attain it.”

This same conversation is how we should approach the topic of the tithe. It’s not specifically commanded in the New Testament, but it sure seems like the implicit expectation of both the Old and New Testaments.  So, the church is ecstatic that you’re giving when you’re giving in all these ways – time, talents, and treasures.

We are at the beginning of Lent. During the Lenten season, the church calls to our attention the sufficiency of what God gives. It points to the sufficiency of God’s grace in the atoning work of Jesus.   It shows us the sufficiency of faith in Jesus’ work for us. It makes known the sufficiency of God’s Word in faith and life.

But Lent doesn’t just remind us of the sufficiency of God’s spiritual gifts, the gifts that pertain to our redemption and salvation. Lent also reminds us of the sufficiency of the physical, temporal gifts of God, those that pertain to this body and life.  In other words, it reminds us of the importance of godly contentment and of outward discipline and training of the body.

This outward training of the body teaches us not to give in to every desire of our flesh but to learn to say no to them.  And it does this in such a way that if you fail, it is no sin. It is a way to practice without putting yourself into a compromising situation.

The easiest example of this is fasting.  When you fast, you are practicing saying no to the desires of your body. But if you fail in this, if you break your fast, you have not sinned. You have, though, learned something about how your flesh works, how difficult it is to fight against it, and how you need help from above in order to do it.

There is another example of this.  It is alms-giving.  This is an increase in giving to the church and its mission during this time.  We all know that our flesh finds security in money and stuff. By committing to give more to the church, you are training your flesh.  You are, by this outward discipline, training yourself to be content with what God gives.  You are practicing saying “no” to your desires.  Again, if you fail, you have not sinned.  But you’ve learned just how powerful your flesh is in leading you instead of you leading it. You’ve learned how you need help from above in being content with what God gives.

This is why St. Paul instructs young Pastor Timothy in this way:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”  (1 Tim 6:6–10)

Our sufficiency is not of ourselves; it is in God.  Let us learn this without sin by training our flesh this Lenten season.

Our God is a God who works through means. He can and has worked immediately without agency, as the Bible testifies, but primarily, on the whole and for the most part, our God works through means. He does this not only for all of our earthly needs but also for all of our spiritual needs. And He does this for our benefit.

He provides for all our needs of this body and life through means. He gives us fathers and mothers to care for us when we are young. Through them, God provides house and home, food and clothing, education and training in the arts and work of this world.

He gives us good government to protect us from harm and danger; He gives us faithful neighbors and good friends to help in times of need and lack. He gives us employers who trade our work for income so that we may acquire the needs of the body. He gives us brains and brawn so that we will have something to trade with those employers for that needed income. This work, which we are able to do only because of what God has provided to us, redounds to the benefit of others. And so, the cycle of God giving through means continues.

He provides for all our needs of our souls. He sent His Son into the flesh to be our Savior. In that body, our Lord Jesus Christ lived the life that God demands of us all – a life we have failed to live because of our sins – and, in that body, He made payment for those sins on the cross, once and for all.

God delivers this forgiveness through the means of His Word and Sacraments. He calls pastors to proclaim, in His stead and by His command, that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Through these same pastors, God Himself claims us as His own in Holy Baptism, placing His own name on us in water and Word, igniting faith by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And He gives us His life-giving body and blood to nourish us in this same faith until the end. Our God is a God who works through means.

This is true also of stewardship. This is what St. Paul wrote in Philippians:

“I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:18–19).

The gift St. Paul received from the Philippian church is a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. They gave to God. God provided for St. Paul through the Philippians. And the God who loves both Paul and the Philippians will supply their every need according to the riches in Christ Jesus. Our God is a God who works through means.

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus Christ],” St. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 1:20. This is true also of you. Trust in the God who provides for all that we need in body and soul through means. And not only will you find His “yes” to you, but others will find it, too, through you. “But as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also” (2 Cor. 8:7).

                                                              Stewardship Corner

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, is teaching those who follow Him that worrying about the necessities of life is idolatry: worshipping a false god.  This is because worry and anxiety show what we care about.  Our anxiety reveals what we love and to what we’re devoted. It reveals what we trust in.

This is why our Lord begins this section with an overarching principle: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.”

But you say: “I must eat and drink. I must have clothing to wear and have a home in which to dwell.”  Yes, all these things you need.  And Jesus says that your Father in heaven will ensure that you have them.  He demonstrates this with a simple argument.

Your Father in heaven feeds the birds of the air, who neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns.  He clothes the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin but are arrayed more luxuriously than Solomon in all his glory.  If, then, your Father in heaven feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, how will He not also feed and clothe you when you are worth more than they are?

For you know that you are worth more than them You are worth infinitely more.  You are worth the price of the eternal Son of God.  Did the Son of God come down from heaven and become a lily?  Did he descend and take on the form of a bird?  No!

He came down from heaven and became a man: flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone.  He is one of us, our brother.  And what did He do when He became flesh to dwell among us?  He gave His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, that you might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom forever.

God became man in Christ Jesus.  He lived the life we failed to live, and He died the death we deserve because of it.  He was raised again on the third day to overcome sin and death … for us.  He was crucified for our transgressions and raised for our justification.  So, if your Father in heaven has given His Son to die for us in order that we might live with Him eternally, how will He not also give us all things to support this body and life?

To be anxious about the necessities of life, to devote yourself to food and clothing, to care about this and find security in it, is to serve another god.  It is to deny that you will live forever because Jesus, the Son of God is risen from the dead, lives and reigns for all eternity.  It is to believe that God – who created you, redeemed you by the death and resurrection of His Son, and sanctifies you by His Spirit – will not keep His promises of sustaining you in this life.

Jesus says this: Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness.  God’s kingdom is His rule among us.  His rule among us comes when our Father in heaven gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.  This is what we ask God to do for us in the prayer Jesus taught us.

Your Father in heaven knows what you need – food and clothing, house and home, etc. – and He promises to give it to you.  Chief of the things you need is His grace and mercy in His Son,  Jesus Christ.  So, seek after that.  Those who seek will find.  And all the necessities of life, our Lord says, will be added to you.

St. Paul wrote to the Church of Christ in Corinth: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).  God loves a cheerful giver. But who is a cheerful giver?

Abel was.  By faith, Abel gave the firstborn of his flock, and it was acceptable in God’s sight. Abraham was.  By faith, Abraham prepared cakes and a tender choice calf for God and entertained angels unaware.  So also were David and Solomon.  By faith, David would not make a sacrifice to God that cost him nothing, so he paid Araunah his due.  By faith, Solomon built a house for God, where his name would dwell and thereby where He would dwell to be Israel’s God and they His people.

What more shall I say?  For time would fail me to tell of all those who gave not simply for the joy of giving but for the joy of knowing the One to whom they gave.

So also our Lord, who for the joy set before Him, gave everything, yes, even His life, enduring the cross and scorning its shame.  He gave to the shedding of His blood, willingly and resolutely setting His face toward Jerusalem to die for the life of the world.  Though He was rich in every way, He became poor, so that by His poverty we might be rich beyond measure.

So then, let us – like Abel and Abraham, like David and Solomon, and even like our Lord Jesus Christ – give cheerfully to God for the work of His kingdom in our midst.  Like them, let us decide in our heart – for the joy set before us – the joy of knowing the One to whom we give is the One who gives us all good things.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 18, 1546, Martin Luther closed his eyes forever.   And the hand that hammered the 95 Theses into the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, penned its final words:   “We are all beggars. This is true.”

And this is the truth that our Lord says makes you free. Ironic, isn’t it?  That, in order to be free, you must be a beggar; you must be utterly dependent and reliant upon God.  This makes us uncomfortable – the way we’re uncomfortable when someone gets us a Christmas or birthday present when we haven’t gotten them one.  We feel we owe them.  And we don’t much like being in someone’s debt.

But what Luther would remind us is that we are all indeed beggars.  But we’re not just anyone’s beggars.  We’re God’s beggars.  And this is His legacy to the Christian Church.  Christ came for sinners.  He came to seek and save the lost. He came to heal the sick and raise the dead. He came for sinners, and He dwells only with sinners.

And, if we are to be where He is, we must be willing to be counted among the lost, the sick, and the dead.  We must be willing to be beggars.  We must cry out for mercy, for grace, and for his undeserved love and kindness.  We must be dependent solely on Him and what He gives.

And here’s the beauty: He gives us everything.  Everything – forgiveness of sins, salvation from death and the devil, and eternal life.  This is not because of any worthiness or merit in us, but it is because of His divine goodness, mercy, and grace.

On account of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Father forgives you, saves you, and is pleased with you.  And you receive.  You receive His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His acceptance, and His inheritance.  We are all beggars.  This is true.

This is the heart and soul of Christianity and the life-blood of the Christian Church.  God justifies us, and He declares us innocent and righteous by His grace received through faith for the sake of Christ.  This is not because of our works; this is because of His work on the cross.  We, who once were enemies of God, are reconciled to Him and made to be His children.

This is what Luther would point us to when He took up his pen for the last time and scribbled “We are all beggars. This is true.”  We are beggars.  But we are beggars of the God who does not ignore us, who doesn’t pass by us on the other side.  We are beggars of the One who descended from heaven to make His dwelling with sinners.

We are beggars of Him who deigns to dwell with us, among us, and – yes – even in us by grace for Christ’s sake. For in the bread and cup that we bless, we share together with Christ and each other the riches of God’s grace.

So inexhaustible are the riches of this grace – the Gospel in sermon and absolution, in Baptism and Holy Communion – that our cups overflow. We, who are God’s beggars, are not only inexhaustibly satisfied but have something to give back in thanksgiving and praise.